The Snitch: Ryan Watsford’s Rose Bay home sold while he was in jail

Former Ibrahim family associate Ryan Watsford — who can be released from jail as early as next year after he was sentenced over a plot to smuggle 800kg of MDMA — won’t be able to return to his eastern suburbs home as it has been sold.

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Former Ibrahim associate and famed eyebrow donor Ryan Watsford won’t be coming out of jail to the cosy eastern suburbs existence he was accustomed to.

Watsford will be eyeing 2021 as his earliest release date after he was sentenced over a plot to smuggle 800kg of MDMA and millions of illegal cigarettes.

The former private schoolboy has to find some new digs when he walks out.

Until the day he was arrested in 2017, Watsford had lived in what he referred to as his mother‘s Rose Bay “villa” — everyone else called it a townhouse.

Ryan Watsford (right) with Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim (left). Picture: Facebook

But in the time since, Watsford’s mother has passed away, and the property has been transferred once and then sold to another party.

The first sale occurred in June 2018 when it was transferred from Mrs Watsford to Gail Coward for $0, according to property records.

The three bedroom property was then sold again in March 2019 for $2.2 million to Peter and Penny Connor, property records said.

It is unknown if Watsford has received any money from the proceeds of the sale.

If he did, the next question will be will Watsford set up shop in Sydney’s eastern suburbs again?

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The east has been something of an unhappy hunting ground for Watsford.

He got caught running a cocaine-through-the-post operation to vacant properties he had a line into, thanks to his former life as a real estate agent.

BURROWS v HOUDA ROUND 2

The legal battle between Sydney lawyers Zali Burrows and Adam Houda just got a whole lot bigger.

Snitch revealed Ms Burrows is suing Mr Houda for defamation over a post on his Twitter account.

The case centres around Mr Houda retweeting a Sydney Morning Herald article that focused on Ms Burrows coupled with several emojis.

Lawyer Zali Burrows. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett

Ms Burrows, who is known for representing crime lord Bassam Hamzy, has sued in the Sydney District Court, claiming the story, the comments below it and the emojis are defamatory.

Mr Houda is set to fight the case and has filed a defence with the court.

Now we can reveal that Ms Burrows has added to her statement of claim and is now also suing Mr Houda for misleading or deceptive conduct under the Competition and
Consumer Act.

The latest incarnation of her document has been filed with the court and claims that because Mr Houda uses his Twitter account to “promote his business and professional activities as a solicitor” then it is also subject to the laws that regulate businesses.

Ms Burrows is also suing the Herald over the article Mr Houda posted.

Ms Burrows had a win in the early stages of the case in August when Judge Judith Gibson head that the emojis were capable of conveying the meanings she pleaded in her statement of claim.

“As is sometimes the case with social media posts, the meanings may be gleaned from pictures as well as words and, where liability for publication arises from more than one post, from the dialogue which ensues,” Judge Gibson said in her judgment.

BOOK IT

Mark November 5 in your diaries. That’s when the NSW Supreme Court will hear arguments on two non publication orders relating to an alleged sexual assault involving a lawyer from a high profile law firm.

One relates to whether the identity of the accused — a lawyer at the firm who has been charged with sexual assault — should be revealed.

The other relates to the name of the firm. The police have alleged there was a drug culture at the firm, but the owner is desperately trying to keep the name under wraps because the practice’s reputation would be irreparably damaged.

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Originally published as The Snitch: Ryan Watsford’s Rose Bay home sold while he was in jail